Travel Diary: 8 Hours in New York City

Hey Guys!

In case you didn’t know I recently celebrated my birthday last month, and for this year’s celebration I took it to the East Coast. More specifically I was in Hamilton, New Jersey but this was my first time being on that side of the United States. Since I was so close to the Big Apple it was only right that I visited. Unfortunately it wasn’t the ideal New York City adventure but nonetheless an experience for me.

We (My friend & I) got to the city around 4:15 in the afternoon and left around 12 a.m. hence the title 8 hours in New York City. Any other day 8 hours may have been perfect time to explore, but weather was against us and I also didn’t plan accordingly. Besides all of that, let’s get into how these eight hours were spent.

Journey to NYC

First off, how did we get there? Good ole NJ Transit, specifically the train. It was my first time in a long while that I’ve been on a train. I don’t particularly remember what it felt like the first time, but this was actually better than expected. I tend to have motion sickness at some points but it didn’t affect me while on the train. I felt that if I sat in the opposite direction in which the train was moving that I’d feel weird, so I made sure to sit in the right direction.

The train was relatively clean and spacious. They should upgrade to having wifi or television though, just for personal comfort *lol*. The entire ride took about 1 hr and 15 mins. It cost us about US $34 roundtrip. There’s a conductor on the train who would call out the various stops, and each stop also has proper signage. If I had to do it all over again, I would (which I did, two more times while in NJ).

After arriving at the station in NYC it was time to catch the subway (another first for me) Funny enough everything was exactly what you’d see on TV and as how others described. It’s busy AF. Lots of people everywhere seemingly all having somewhere to go. If you’re not moving in sync with them or fast enough I can guarantee you’d get pushed out of the way. There were homeless people, police officers, business people, everyone you can think of down in the subway station. It was a little weird for me being underground, but I guess it’s pretty normal for everyone else.

New York City

Penn Station

Lunch at Sugar Factory

A popular restaurant on social media, more known for its smoking goblet drinks was our choice for lunch that day. Even though they’re pretty instagrammable I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish a drink of that nature. Thankfully, their drink menu was very exhaustive there were many other options. I settled for a Cotton Candy Cosmopolitan and The Philly Monster Burger. As its name suggests it was huge with two burger patties, yet still delicious. My friend on the other hand had The Big Cheesy. The burgers were both US $21.

Cotton Candy Cosmopolitan

The Philly Monster Burger

The Big Cheesy Monster Burger

Walk The High Line

Like the Caribbean people we are (nosey) we spotted people taking pictures at this location as it was right outside where we were having lunch. Thus, we decided to venture over and see exactly why it was so popular. After many steps to get to the top we realized it was simply a park of some sort with a view of the city. We watched the sun set, snap a few pictures of our own then walked along the pathway to see where it led. It was pretty cool in an artsy outdoorsy type of view.

After some research I found out it was actually a quite popular place in NYC (duh, hence all the people). The High Line is simply a “park in the sky” built on an elevated freight line. Check out the website for more information.

The High Line is more than a park. It’s a public space where you can view art, walk through gardens, experience a performance, savor delicious food, or just connect with friends and neighbors—while enjoying a unique perspective of the city.

thehighline.org

Times Square

“Alexa, play Jay-Z ‘Empire State of Mind.” What does one actually do in Times Square for the first time? Besides getting wowed by all the bright lights and people? We walked, talked, window shopped, took pictures and ventured into Forever 21 (which was 4 floors, ridiculous!). Not sure what else to say about this part of the adventure, but it was quite nice to finally experience it. While walking we bumped into a young man selling comedy show tickets and decided to check it out.

Comedy Show

Lastly, a comedy show. Can’t remember exactly when it started (think it was 9) but we didn’t leave until minutes to 12. We had to run to catch the train before we were stuck in NYC till 5 a.m. but let’s not talk about that. The comedy show was well good and bad; some people were really funny others you wondered wtf. A lot of them also used race for jokes, I guess it makes for a good punchline but it was sorta uncomfortable. They made fun of both side of the table but still weird. The tickets for the show were 2 for $20 and we each had to buy two drinks. It was said that sort of the acts were also on those late night shows but I didn’t know any of them.

That’s all for now folks! Contemplating what my next posts should be, hmmm. Until then, have you ever been to NYC? What was your experience like?

23 replies to Travel Diary: 8 Hours in New York City

Glad you got to experience NYC for a bit. There’s so much places I could recommend for your next trip. Hope you had an amazing birthday. You look lovely😍😍 PS. The trains aren’t always clean and spacious lol.

I generally prefer to go to nature or less busy places on my trips but I can certainly see the lure of New York as a curiosity stop. It really just seems like a world of it’s own when compared to any other place! It seems like you had a pretty good experience for the most part though!

Looks like you had an awesome experience! I live in Pennsylvania close to Philadelphia and still haven’t been to New York City. Rode on a train through it when I was 10 to visit family in Connecticut. It’s definitely on my bucket list though. Happy Belated Birthday!

You’re making me miss NY. I used to live in NJ and would commute frequently to NY because of school and just because it was the city that never sleeps. That same forever 21 stresses me out lol. It’s high time the NJ transit offer wifi lol. I’m glad you had a great time. I need to take a trip back because some days I missing living up that way.

Hi, I’m Aaliyah

Welcome to my lifestyle blog where I seek to inspire millennials through my experiences. ATBA is a place where we can LIVE (our wildest dreams), LOVE (ourselves and others) and LEARN (through our mistakes). To find out more about the girl behind the blog, visit the about section!